Reframing and redesigning learning, assessment, and teacher professional development in a post-pandemic era

We are in a post-pandemic era with increasing emphasis on technology, interconnectedness, and problem solving. There are multidisciplinary efforts in re-envisioning and redesigning learning, assessment and teacher professional development by integrating theory, practice, pedagogy, and technology. This issue comprises six articles to contribute to this progress by addressing timely research gaps by building on learning theories and design principles and bringing innovative pedagogies and technologies to design opportunities for better learning experiences and environments.

Cuong Huy Pham studied Vietnamese high school EFL students’ motivational constructions through their ongoing interaction with significant others such as teachers, peers, parents and extended family members in various social settings (Pham, 2022). The notion of significant others was from a social constructivist perspective which emphasises on the on-going interaction with the learner (Vygotsky, 1978). In Pham’s article, learning was considered to occur in multiple social settings including school and other informal contexts such as at home or other places. This is aligned with the notion of “seamless learning” (Looi et al., 2010) which views learning to happen through both individual and collective efforts, and across time and different contexts.

Pham (2022) identified the mediating role of extended family members in students’ learning process. The study found four key themes entailing the role of significant others in making learners become more cognisant of the value of language learning, providing financial and academic support, arousing and sustaining their second language motivation, and imposing certain pressure on their academic performance.

Piyawan Rungwaraphong (2022) analysed the implementation of Induction Helper, an online learning aid to facilitate and promote Thai EFL students’ inductive reasoning ability in online learning context during COVID-19 pandemic. The article analysed the advantages and disadvantages on online learning: on one hand, online learning promoted location-independent learning; on the other hand, certain instructional approaches were restricted in online learning contexts and students need to be supported with learning aid. The results revealed four features of the Induction Helper that need to be further improved to help students with their inductive reasoning.

Mohamed Belamghari (2022) studied the experiences of Moroccan university students’ emergency remote learning (ERL) during the COVID19 lockdown period. The study identified the challenges of students’ online learning which including insecurity, the absence of intimacy, technical issues and unfairness. Despite the challenges, this study provided insights on how students learned to adapt and solve problems from the ERL experiences. This is what future ready learner about: being resilient in a VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) world (Chen et al., 2023).

Assessment is a critical component of the learning process. Innovative pedagogies empowered by emerging technologies posed challenges to conventional assessment theories and practices. Making education, an innovative pedagogical approach, requires alternative assessment designs to capture students’ learning and development that occur during the process of making which is nonlinear, dynamic, inter – and trans-disciplinary, and collaborative in nature. Yumiko Murai, Yoon Jeon Kim, Stephanie Chang, & Justin Reich (2022) investigated the assessment approaches that support the process of making in US schools and derived four design principles of assessment in school-based making based on literature review and the collaborative development process with educators. The derived design principles operated as a guide or heuristics for teachers and students to assess the complex nature of open-ended student work which is different from conventional assessment approaches such as rubrics and portfolios.

Teachers play a key role in designing learning and assessment. The concepts of unlearning, relearning, co-learning for teachers have never been more relevant today. “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” (Toffler, 1970). Teachers are life-long learners as well. They need to do away with (unlearn) old pedagogical practices for and adopt (relearn) new way of learning and assessment.

Yoav Bergner & Ofer Chen (2022) explored the use of ontologies for student assessment with teachers in student-centred learning environments. The authors identified a set of framework-building moves used by teachers during ontology-based reasoning. The teacher participants perceived the ontology development process to be useful and empowering in sharpening their ability to communicate nuanced assessment arguments.

Teacher learning involves processes of identity construction and development. Jorge Chávez, Jaime Fauré, & Juan Barril Madrid (2022) examined the relationship between professional teacher identity and agency based on findings from 12 teachers-in-training from a Chilean university. The authors argued that professional teacher identity constitutes a combination of knowledge, skills and abilities that shape teachers’ understanding of their role and influence their capacity for agency during teaching. The agency is a consequence of the process of construction and development of professional teacher identity.

The education landscape is changing. Learning scientists believe that the future is not out there to be discovered – it has to be framed and designed. This issue clearly shows how researchers weaves together theories and practices from multiple perspectives, methodological approaches to respond to the timely and emerging questions in learning, assessment and teacher professional development in post-covid era. I hope these 6 articles in this issue could inspire researchers and practitioners to continue reframe and redesign theory-grounded learning experiences and assessment practices not only in the face of challenges, but also benefiting from the challenges.